With some bands, it is easier just to listen and enjoy their work than it is to explain why one finds doing so to be enjoyable. There are any number of bands where there is some distinctive feature that one can latch on to, some strength that one can point to and say, "This why I like this band," or "You should listen to this artist because..." With other bands, no particular feature stands alone; the whole is compelling in a way that none of the components could be.
Such is the case of the Plain Janes, and their independent album, Tripping Over Daisies. The eleven songs on this album grow on you with repeated listening, rather than rocking you back in your chair on the first listen. The musicianship is solid though not spectacular. The lyrics are poetic in a very plain-spoken way. Lead singer Paul Deal's voice is pleasant to listen to without being beautiful. Put it all together, though, and the totality is well worth listening to.
The Plain Janes' sound can be considered alternative, in that it mixes acoustic and electric guitars and uses little or no keyboards, and in that the songs contain instrumental breaks that usually don't develop into full blown solos. In producing the album the band chose to place the lead vocal out in front of the instruments. The arrangements of the songs feature highly rhythmic (rather than layered atmospheric or wall-of-sound style) guitars. The song tempos are pretty much moderate to fast, with
nothing played at breakneck pace.
With the vocals out front in the mix, and the lead singer's clear diction, the lyrics are clearly the focus of these songs. The Plain Janes write and sing about all of life: romantic relationships, superficiality, society's ills from pollution to alienation to poverty.
The song "Electric," from which the album title comes, is a tender song about new romantic love, capturing all the exhilaration and thrills of being in your beloved's presence, along with the self-doubt and feelings that you are unworthy of the beloved:
Questions avalanche
Could I ever hold your hand
Do I have a chance
That you'd want this kind of man
You're way out of my reach
Who am i to dream
'Cause I'm a poor boy
Looking at the girl who should be queen.
In looking at all these things, the Janes maintain a clearly Christian perspective, though they don't register high on the Jesus-per-minute count. In the song "Everybody Wants You," they acknowledge that the band has a purpose and a message:
Six strings and a song on my lips
I do what it takes, man, to get your attention
Spotlight is for the message i am here to give you
Bring it down with a little divine intervention.
The songs near the end of the album especially testify to the Plain Janes' belief that God enters into all of life and transforms it. The most direct statement comes in "One Man's Blood":
Tainted lips drink from the holy grail
Jaded flesh sing as the Word foretells
Heaven and earth reel in wonder
When broken souls are filled with splendor.
The last song is a hidden track, and sings of God waiting for humanity to come for healing.
Special mention is due to the engineering and production work on this album. Independent releases as a group have very uneven sound quality. Masaki Liu of Rivulets and Violets (formerly of Dime Store Prophets), who does a great deal of production work for Five Minute Walk records, and "Mike" did a fine job of recording the raw material from which the band produced this album.
This is a very direct, unassuming album. It has no grand pretensions. It is the kind of album that the music industry will either load down with absurd hype or pretty much ignore. Recently, the efforts of artists like the Dave Matthews band and Ani DiFranco have shown that it is possible to be reasonably successful at selling albums as an independent artist. The Vigilantes of Love's latest album is selling faster and better without label support than their previous label releases did. It would be nice if something similar happened for the Plain Janes, although their website is now publicizing their last concert.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Josh SpencerThe Plain Janes have arrived with a strongly consistent sound that is primarily acoustic-based with occasional electric textures, moving from friendly, earthy guitar pop to funky folk rock onto post-grunge territory. The latter is most compelling for this reviewer, as showcased by the edgier rhythms and solos and the slightly nasal, hypnotic harmonies ala Days of the New in songs like "Something…
